Sharp County record., 1887-10-06

was nersecution that gave the world the
great salvation of the Gospel Inc
rihald mockery, the hungering and thirse'
ing, the unjust trial and lgnom1inious
death, where all the force of hellS 1ury
was hurled against the cross, was the
introduction of that religion which is YET
IN he the earth's deliverance from guilt
and suffering, and her everlasting ell,
thronement among the princpalltles OF
Heaven.
The State has sometimes said TO the
Church! "Come, let me take your hand
and will help you." What has been tne
result? The Church has gone back ana
has lost its estate of holiness and has pe-
come ineffective. At other times the state
has said to the Church: 81 VIII crush
WON'T What has been the resultI AFTER
the storms have spent their fury the
Church. so far from having lost any OF ltS
force, has increased and is worth intlnltely
more after the assault than before IL.
The Church is far more indebted to the
opposition of civil government than 10 iUs
approval The fires of the stake nave
only been the torches which Christ heio III
his hand by the light of which the Cnurcn
has marched to her present position IN 'ne
sound of racks and implements OF torture
hear the rumbling of the wheels OF the
gospel chariot. Scaffdlds of martyrdom
have been the stairs by which the Church
has ascended. AquafortiS is the best test
of pure gold.
Furthermore, our subject impreSses us
that sins will come to exposure Long,
long ago had these brothers sold Joseph
to Egypt. They had suppressed the crime,
and 1t was a profound secret, well Kept by
the brothers. But suddenly the secret Is
out. The old father hears that his son is
in Egypt, having been sold there by the
malice of his own brothers. How their
cheeks must have burned and their hearts
sunk at the flaming out of this suppressed
crime. The smallest iniquity has a
thousand tongues, and they will blab out
an exposure.
Saul was sent to destroy the Canaanites,
their sheep and their oxen. But when he
got down there among the pastures he saw
some fine sheep and oxen too fat to Kill,
and so he thought he would steal them.
He drove them towards home, but stopped
to report to the prophet how we'll he had
executed his commission, when in the dis
tance the sheep began to bleat and the
oxen to below. The secret was out, and
Samuel said to the blushing and con-
founded Sauli .
Wheat means the bleating Of the sheep that
hear and the lowing Of the cattle.
Aye, my hearers, you can not Keep an
iniquity quiet. At just the wrong time
the sheep will bleat and the oxen will bel
low. Achan can not steal the Babylonish
garment without getting stoned to death,
nor Benedict Arnold betray his country
without having his neck stretched Look
over the police arrests-these thieves,
these burglars, these adulterers, these
counterfeiters, these highwaymen, these
assassins. They all thought they could
bury their iniquity so deep down that II
would never come to resurrection. But
there was some shoe that answered to the
print in the sand, some false keys found
in possession, some bloody knife that
whisperedof the deed, and the public indig-
nation and the anathema of outraged law
hurled him INTO che Tc.frb1 OF heeiisstea him
on the gallows.
At the close of the battle between the
Dauphin of France and the Helvetians,
Burchard Monk was. so elated with the
victory that he lifted his helmet to lool
off upon the field, when wounded soldier
hurled stone that struck his uncovered
forehead and he fell. Sin will always
leave some point exposed, and there is nc
safety in iniquity. Francis the First, KinG
of France, was discussing how it was bes
to get his army into Italy. Amaril, the
court fool, sprang out from the corner anc
said to the King and his staff officers
"You had better be thinking how you will
get your army back out of Italy after
once you have entered"
In other words, it is easier for US to gel
into sin than to get out of it
Whitefield was riding on horseback
in a lonely way with some missionary
money in a sack fastened to the
saddle bags. A highwayman sprang out
from the thicket and put his hand out to
ward the gold, when Whitefeld turned
upon him and said: "That belongs to the
Lord Jesus Chris t; touch it if you dare,
and the william fell back empty-handet
into the thicket. O, the power Of con
science If offended it becomes Gods
avenging minister. Do not think thai
you can hide any great and protracted sir
in your hearts. In an unguarded moment
it will slip off Of the lip, or some slight oc
casion may for moment set ajar this
door of hell that you wanted to keel
closed. But suppose that in this life yor
hide it, and you get along with that trans
gression burning in your heart, as shiI
on fire within for days may hinder the
flame from bursting out by keeping dowr
the hatchways, yet at last, in the judg
ment, that iniquity will blaze out before
the throne of God and the universe.
Furthermore, learn from this subject thu
inseparable connection between all events
however remote. Lord Hastings was be
headed one year after he had caused thu
death of the Queens children, in the very
month, the very day, the very hour anC
the very moment. There is wonderful
precision in the Divine judgments. Tht
universe is only one thought of God
Those things which seem fragmentary ant
isolated are only different parts of tha
one great thought. How far apart seemed
these two events-Joseph sold to the
Arabian merchants and the rulership o.
Egypt. Yet you see in what a mysteriou
way God connected the two in one plan
So all events are linked together. You
who are aged can look back and grour
together a thousand things in your life
that once seemed isolate. One un'
L Ii IL. "a ol.l f,.r,.,